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Tempe Fire Medical Rescue reports stable ambulance service after three years; program funded equipment and station work
Summary
Interim fire chief Darryl Doody and interim deputy city manager Greg Rees told council the city’s ambulance program, in operation three years after receiving a certificate of necessity, now runs six 24/7 ALS ambulances with strong transport rates, expanded equipment, and a fund that has supported station capital improvements.
Tempe — Interim Fire Chief Darryl Doody and Interim Deputy City Manager Greg Rees updated the City Council Thursday on Tempe’s city-operated ambulance program, reporting three years of full operation, six advanced life-support ambulances staffed around the clock and financial and equipment investments tied to the enterprise fund.
Doody said Tempe Fire Medical Rescue (TFMR) received a Certificate of Necessity from the Arizona Department of Health Services in 2016 in response to private-market instability and began operating with two ambulances in 2017. The service expanded to its current level of six staffed advanced life-support ambulances in 2022 and operates with 39 operational employees — 18 emergency medical technicians and 21 paramedics — plus one ambulance transportation supervisor who works with the city’s third-party billing contractor.
Doody said staff chose to staff ambulances with paramedics “for efficiency sake,” enabling ambulances to take advanced-care patients so fire crews can return to service. He described operational metrics showing the program consistently exceeds its 80% goal for transports when dispatched and maintains unit-hour utilization in the 20–30% range, the department’s target "sweet spot" before planning additional units.
The presentation included destination and transport data: roughly 80% of transports are split between HonorHealth Tempe (formerly Tempe St. Luke’s) and Banner Desert, with Scottsdale used for trauma, stroke and cardiac receiving cases in the northern part of the city. Doody said collection rates are “quite good” for the state and that a reimbursement dip in 2024 has largely been resolved.
The TFMR enterprise fund purchased a ninth ambulance in FY24 to maintain reserves (six staffed units plus three reserves) and has contributed more than $1 million to the fire department’s capital improvement program for station renovations to accommodate ambulance crews. The department also acquired mechanical CPR devices (Lucas) during COVID and placed them on every response vehicle; Doody said Tempe was “the first in the state to provide one on every unit.”
Doody highlighted other improvements funded by the program: the hiring of the city’s first paid medical directors to provide physician oversight, operational guidance and training, and the deployment of Note 2 electronic patient-care software to transfer documentation directly to hospitals for better continuity and quality assurance.
Council members asked operational questions. Vice Mayor Garland asked what causes a dispatched ambulance not to transport; Doody replied it is a mix — refusals, stand-by dispatches, and operational protocols to keep ambulances available for critical calls such as cardiac arrest and violent incidents. Garland also complimented the department on innovations and said she was “really proud of you.”
No formal actions or policy changes were proposed; staff provided the update and answered council questions.
